Thinkering Studio Project Ideas

Definition:

• "The word technology comes from the Greek. It is comprised of two parts: "techne," meaning an art or skill, and "logia" meaning the systematic study of an idea (Oxford English Dictionary, 1989). Thus the word technology originally meant the systematic study of an art or skill." Shoffner, Jones, and Harmon

Competitions

• AMD GameStar Mechanic (Past)
• Cardboard Challenge
• National Geographic Photography Contest for Kids
• National STEM Video Game Challenge
• Reflections - Magic Moment
• ThinkQuest

Project Idea Sites

• Community Science Workshop
• Science Fair Project Ideas (Science, Engineering, Robotics, Psychology, Etc.)
• Science Fair Project Ideas (not the same site as the one above)
• Make: Projects
  • Make: Projects - Kids (easier and cheaper?)
• DIY.Org Skills (click on an area of interest, then scroll down to challenges)

Animation

• Thinkering Studio Jumpstart - Animation & Stop Motion
• Stop Animation - iStopMotion for iPad
• Animation - Scratch, Flash, Hype (html5), muro, etc.
• Web Apps - Animation for 12 and under or 13 and older

"Art"

• Tapigami
• See Drawing/Painting below
• See photography below
• Turtle Art

Audio

• See Music below
• Learn to create and record sound fx
  • MouthSounds - Book & CD available for students

Augmented Reality

(and QR Codes - see below)

• Aris
• Aurasma Lite

Blogging

• Blogging
  • App Reviews
  • Game Reviews
  • Movie Reviews
  • Music Reviews
  • All of the above - Student Reviews
• Micro Blogging
  • Tumblr - http://atw2.tumblr.com
  • App, Song, Movie or Book reviews
  • BCS Sports highlights
• Photo Blogging
• Video Blogging
  • How about a weekly iOS tip show for students? - iFive
  • What about a weekly Minecraft tip show for noobs, advanced players, parents ...? - Minecraft Tutorials

Build A Computer

• How to Build a Computer from Scratch
• Raspberry Pi
  • Pi Store (for software)
  • Raspberry Pi Education Manual

Crafting

• Learn to make paper
• Learn to make piñatas
• Learn to make soap
• Learn origami
  • Try foldify
• Learn to make ...
• Start a business selling homemade ...
• Design an original halloween costume
• Duct Tape Crafting
• Weave, Knit, Crochet
• Sew, Stitch
• Clothing Maker or Fashion Design
• Paper Crafting and Paper Making
• Printmaking
• Thinkering Studio Jumpstart - Jewelry Making
• Resources
  • Craft:

Create your own "channel" to share a passion

• Sylvia's Super-Awesome Maker Show!

Drawing/Painting

• Start a Comic Strip (Comic Life, Strip Designer, etc.)
• Explore affordances and constraints of art on the iPad (with and without a stylus)
• 3D
  • SketchUp, Shapesmith, 3DTin, Autodesk 123D
  • Shapeways, Ponoko, Scuplteo
• Paint, COREL Paint, etc.
• Wacom Tablets
• Visual Note Taking
  • The Basics of Visual Note-taking
  • RSA Animate
  • Sketching: the Visual Thinking Power Tool
  • Sketchnotearmy.com & The Sketchnote Handbook
  • Videoscribe
  • Visual Recording on the iPad
  • In Plain English Videos

Electronics

• Squishy Circuits

Food

• Make your own ice cream

Game Design

• Thinkering Studio Jumpstart - Game Making
• Minecraft
  • Improve a Minecraft wiki
  • Create a world to share with the world
  • Create a fly through to show off your world or take it a step further and edit a trailer to entice people to try out your world
  • Minecraft In School Wiki
  • Teach your teacher to better manage a Minecraft server
  • Setup and maintain your own Minecraft server
  • Playing Minecraft With a MaKey MaKey
  • Review mods
• Resources:
  • Gamestar Mechanic
  • Scratch or Snap!
    • Makey Makey Scratch Game Controller
  • Kodu
  • Alice3D or try out the Hour of Code tutorial
• Design a new card, board, or outside game
• Design a new cardboard arcade game
• Games Aiming to Change the World

Gaming

• Budget Hero
• Civilization
• GoodGame Empire
• iCivics (especially We The Jury) also check out Commons - Digital Town Square
• Kerbal Space Program
• Minecraft (3 week limit to explore, then you need to identify a challenge)
  • Minecraft-1001 Uses for Minecraft in Schools
  • Consider these challenges from Massively Minecraft, then come up with your own epic challenge
  • Create a HowToon
• Mission US (History)
• Past Present
• Portal and Portal 2
• SimCity
• Sound Shapes
• Stencyl
• WolfQuest

Gardening

• Hydroponic Gardens
• Square Foot Gardening

Help A Teacher (no mundane projects allowed, think Epic!)

• Create learning resources for classmates or younger students
• Curate resources related to curricular topics

Infographics

• http://ascd.typepad.com/blog/2011/06/infographics.html
• http://www.scribd.com/doc/64112955/Creating-Infographics-with-your-Students

Internet Safety

• Create a blog collecting and commenting on internet safety resources
• Create a PSA on a particular aspect of internet safety
• Start a campaign to educate and get classmates to stop cyberbullying
• Combine with Internet Searching & Producing - NetSmart - use Howard Rheingold's book as a starting point for a student created media campaign (see Engage project page for more resources)

Internet Searching

• Become a google genius - practice on school topics and your own areas of interest
  • A Google A Day
  • Power Searching with Google - MOOC
  • SearchReSearch Challenges
• Create a weekly Google/Bing challenge/brain teaser
• Create Internet Search Stories

LEGOS

• Thinkering Studio Jumpstart - LEGOs
• LEGO Instruct - Design and document your original creations
• Master Builder Academy
• Crickets
• WeDO
• NXT

Mini Maker Faire Projects (Kids Hack Day, DIY Day, Maker Day, etc.)

Build, Tweak/Hack, Share

• Balloon Powered Car
  • Balloon Cars
• Build an Earthquake-proof Structure
• Can-Do Canoe
• Coffee Lid Windups
• Concrete for Kids
• Das Bottle - Soda Bottle Submarine from Howtoons
• Design a Super Dome
• Dirty Water Project
• EnerJeeps
• Engineering Magic
• Feel The Heat
• Flip Me
• Flying Marshmallows - Build a Simple Catapult
  • Build a Catapult
• Harmless Holder
• Heavy Lifting
• Launch It!
• Leaning Tower of Pasta
• LED Throwies
• Lunar Lander
  • Roving On The Moon
• Marble Ramp or Marble Ramp - pegboard
• Marshmallow Design Challenge
• Mousetrap Racer
• On Target!
• Paper Table
• Pop Fly!
• Pop Up Books
• Scribble Bots
• Snack Attack - Food Packaging
• Sound Booth Construction
  • Portable Vocal Booth & Portable Booth 2
• Straw-Rocket Aeronautics
• Watercraft
• Collections
  • DESIGN squad Nation Activities (Electricity, Force/Energy, Green, Health, Simple Machines, Sound/Music, Space/Transportation, Sports/Games, Structures, & Technology/Materials)
  • DIY
  • Howtoons.com
  • Siemens' Hands-On Science Activities (K-6)
  • TeachEngineering Activities (100's)
  • Time to Invent Club
    • Trophy Tower - Make a strong structure out of straws
    • Hit the Target - Explore levers by making a ball launcher
    • Green Loungers - Design and build chairs out of cardboard
    • Buzz Board - Learn about circuits by making a buzzer game
    • Rescue 911 - Invent a tool to rescue a ball from a tube
    • Pinball Party - Invent a pinball-like game
    • Newspaper Clothes - Design and make outfits from newspaper
    • Circuit Board - Invent a game to teach other kids about circuits
    • FUN-Raising Games - Invent carnival games, using some wacky equipment
  • Toys from Recycled Materials
  • Make: Projects
    • Make: Projects - Kids (easier and cheaper)
    • School's Out! Best Summer Ever Special Issue
  • Science of Music
    • DIY Electric Slide Guitar
    • DIY: Build Your Own Microphone!
    • Speaker From a Starbucks Cup
  • Mini Weapons of Mass Distraction

Modern Language

• Create a Pronunciation Portfolio
• Create a set of flashcards and quizzes for a years worth of vocabulary and phrases or to review previous years' vocabulary
• Gather resources (podcasts, flashcards, lessons, etc.) for the language you are already learning
• Learn a new language

Music

• Audio Engineering
• Create a Portfolio for an Instrument You Know
• Learn a New Instrument
  • Thinkering Studio Jumpstart - Learn to Play Guitar
• Make an instrument
• Music Mixing - GaragaBand
• Music Recording - GarageBand
• Music Reviews - Create a blog to review music
• Write a song or an entire album of songs
  • Crestwood Elementary knows how to rock and rap

Online Courses

• Take an online course
• Create an online course (iTunes U)

Photography

• Thinkering Studio Jumpstart - Digital Photography & Editing
• Build, Learn Shoot - Bigshot Camera Kit
• Digital Photography
  • Take an online or DVD based course
  • 3D
• HDR (High Dynamic Range) Photography
• Make your own iPhone or iPad microscope/camera - pdf & video
• Photo Editing
• Yearbook Photojournalism

Printing

• 3D Printer
• CNC Milling Machine

Podcasting

• Thinkering Studio Jumpstart - Audio Podcasting
• Create and maintain an iTunes podcast channel on a topic that interests you
  • iTunes, & GarageBand (or other recording/editing software)

Presenting

• Thinkering Studio Jumpstart - Presentations

Programming/Coding

• Thinkering Studio Jumpstart - Programming
  • Thinkering Studio Jumpstart - JavaScript
  • Thinkering Studio Jumpstart - Python
  • Thinkering Studio Jumpstart - Scratch
• Android App Development
  • MIT App Inventor
• Blocky - Google
• Cargo-Bot iPad App
• Codecademy
• iOS Development -
  • Beginner's Guide to iOS Development: Building your First App - Part 1 & Part 2
  • Stencyl
  • Codea ($9.99)
  • iPad and iPhone Application Development (iTunes U course)
• Java
  • Greenfoot
• Javascript
  • Code Avengers - HTML5/CSS or JavaScript (maybe someday)
  • Crunchzilla - Javascript
  • Hakitzu: Code of the Warrior - iPad app for learning JavaScript
• Programming Basics
• Lynda.com - Java, C#, and HTML5 (Thinkering has an account)
• Python
  • Python For Kids: A Playful Introduction To Programming
  • Introduction to Computer Science and Programming (MIT - Python)
  • An Introduction to Python by Mark Clarkson or here
  • Project Euler - Python
  • Python for iOS
  • Pygame
• Ruby
  • KidsRuby
  • Ruby for Kids
  • Hackety Hack
• Scratch
  • BCS' ScratchEd Challenges
  • Super Scratch Programming Adventure
  • Scratch on iPad
    • Hopscotch HD (free iPad app) - Try these Hopscotch Challenges
    • Snap!(works on iPads)
• Tynker (application turned in)
• 10 Tools To Get Kids Excited About Programming
• Online University Classes
  • Introduction to Computer Science and Programming (MIT - Python)

Reading

• Complete your R&E's using and of the technology tools mentioned on this page
  • iPad style R&E's
• Keep a reader's journal using a blog or wiki
• Write reviews of books on Amazon, Audible, iTunes bookstore, etc.

Research/Experimentation

• Dig into an iWonder question
  • BBC's iWonder
  • Wonderopolis
• ThinkQuest

Robotics

• Thinkering Studio Jumpstart - Robotics
• WeDo
• Crickets
• NXT
• Advanced LEGO Building Techniques

Science

• 25 Fun Home Experiments
• Become a Connoisseur of Coasters
  • Coaster Crafter
  • Design your own K'NEX Coaster
• 
  
• Kitchen Chemistry
• Paper Airplanes
• Rocket Science
  • Rocket Science 101
  • Straw-Rocket Aeronautics

Screencasting

• Create a howto wiki or wiki page on a technology of interest to you
• Tools:
  • Camtasia
  • QuickTime
  • Screencast-O-Matic

Videography

• Thinkering Studio Jumpstart - Digital Video
• Become a YouTube Guru (must be 13 or older)
• Commoncraft style explanations
  • Making of a In Plain English video
• Documentary
• Flipped Video for Core Curriculum Class
• Green screen video
• News Interview
• Paradoy Video
• Stop Motion
• Video Tricks

Web Design

• Mozilla Webmaker
• ThinkQuest
• Design a page, site, or blog for a school/organization support

Writing

• Blog - see blogging section above
• Create a poetry portfolio
• Create a digital story
• Make an informational wiki on a favorite topic
• Write a novel, play, nonfiction book
  • Publish an iBook
• Join the Digital Writers Guild and create a writing portfolio
• Design an eBook (or iBook)

Other

• Arduino
  • LilyPad Arduino
  • Modkit
  • S4A (Scratch for Arduino)
• Build/Construct
  • Create with cardboard - Makedo Gallery
• Juggling
• Magic - https://diy.org/skills/magician
  • Card Tricks
  • Magic Tricks
  • Create a 3 trick magic show
• MaKey MaKey: An Invention Kit for Everyone
• Build a bike, repair a bike, hack a bike, perform a spring bike tuneup
• Start a company
• Other Tech Tools
  • Aviary
  • Glogster
  • Prezi
  • QR Codes
    • Create an informational tour of your school/classroom using the QR Treasure Hunt Generator
  • Web 2.0 Tools for under 13 students